Could you watch your child being gunned down like an animal? That's the decision one mom had to make as she learned that her son, Walter Scott, had been shot five times in the back by a police officer in South Carolina and the incident was caught on video camera. Scott's mother, Judy, was faced with the agonizing decision after her 50-year-old son, Walter, who was a father of four, ran away from Police Officer Michael Thomas Slager during a traffic stop.

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It's not clear exactly what happened before Scott, a veteran of the Coast Guard, began running away from Slager, but what is clear -- thanks to video -- is that Scott was shot at eight times -- five of which hit him in the back. Judy Scott told Good Morning America:

When I looked at that tape, that was the most horrible thing I've ever seen ... I am very, very upset concerning it. I almost couldn't look at it. To see my son, running defenseless ... being shot. It just tore my heart to pieces.

Can you imagine being this poor woman? No matter how you feel about what may or may not have happened, the video is horrific. Scott is clearly running for his life. He is unarmed. And he is shot numerous times in the back, then he is handcuffed as his life drains out of him. No mother wants to see that. Ever.

But what if you felt you had to watch? You had to know what happened to your son? You had to know the extent of what happened so you could fight for justice? Then would you be strong enough to watch? I honestly don't know if I could. I would want to be that strong -- I would owe it to my child to see how he or she died. But I don't think I would want that vision in my mind for the rest of my days.

I think, at the end of the day, like Judy, I would force myself to watch. Because I wouldn't want my child to die alone -- and watching would somehow make him or her just a little less so.

Here is what Judy and Walter's dad, Walter, Sr., had to say about this horrible tragedy:

Slager has been arrested on murder charges. In that, he is so far different from the officers who killed Michael Brown and Eric Garner. The video is damning. But we don't know all the facts yet. Police are not, however, allowed to shoot at suspects in the back unless they present a threat of death or physical injury to the officer or others.

Here is the video, which begins shortly after Slager claimed that Scott stole his taser and Scott ran away from him. In the video, he is reportedly seen taking what appears to be the taser, which fell near him when Scott ran away, and placing it by Scott's body. Be warned, it is graphic and NSFW.